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Hi this is Warren Greshes and welcome to, “Move Your Ass Monday!” I’m here to eliminate all the excuses, get your week started on a high note and make sure you reach your fullest potential.

The fear of failure stops more people from succeeding than anything else in the world. Most people are more worried about what could go wrong, than they are optimistic about what could go right.

At some point in your life, if you want to be successful, you have to take a risk. You can’t worry about “what should happen if it doesn’t work out?” As soon as you start saying that it means you’ve already convinced yourself, before you’ve even started, that it won’t work out.

Many years ago, I taught a course on sales and marketing to women and minorities who were interested in starting a business or had just started one. The course was offered through the Urban Business Assistance Corporation. It was run by MBA candidates from New York University’s School of Business.

Once a year, I would speak to these MBA candidates on marketing for small businesses. One day, a student asked me a question I’ll never forget. He said, “When you started your business, what was your contingency plan for failure?” (Is that a typical MBA question, or what?)

I looked at him and said, “There was none. The thought of failure never once crossed my mind. If it had, I wouldn’t have bothered to start the business.”

Yes, if you quit your job and start your own business, you could go out of business. And yes, if you quit your job and start a new career, there’s a chance it won’t work out. If you pick up your family and relocate to another part of the country, you might end up hating it and having to go back.

But I’ll bet the single, biggest reason you made or even contemplated those changes was because you weren’t happy with the circumstances you were in. Besides, I advised you to take a risk; I didn’t say take foolish risks.

A foolish risk is embarking on a new career that you haven’t tried out already in your spare time or, at least researched fully to see if you would like it.

A foolish risk is going into business without a comprehensive written business plan, or without a love and passion for what you want to do.

A foolish risk is choosing a place to live by throwing darts into a map, or packing up your family and going because you read about it in a magazine.

A risk doesn’t have to be a rash, spontaneous act. It can be well thought out and calculated. Planning ahead always helps to tilt the odds of success in your favor.

If you like this video series and want the link delivered right to your email first thing Monday morning go to my website at greshes.com and in the upper right hand corner sign up for a free subscription. See ya next Monday.

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Move Your Ass Monday! #33 Finding a Career That Suits You

Hi this is Warren Greshes and welcome to, “Move Your Ass Monday!” I’m here to eliminate all the excuses, get your week started on a high note and make sure you reach your fullest potential.

Ask most people how they got into their job and they’ll tell you – “I either fell into it, or my father or mother works in the industry.” It’s this reason alone why so many people dislike their jobs. The job chose them, they didn’t choose it. But this is what happens when you’re not quite sure what kind of career or job you’re looking for.

How do you decide what job or career best suits you?

At a young age, don’t be afraid to try different things. When you first get out of school, it’s hard to know what you like, because you have so little experience.

If you’re already established in the work place, but working at a job that you hate, you might need to make a career change even though it’s scary. Remember, you’ll never be as successful as you’re capable of being if you don’t like the job, because you won’t put in the time energy and effort to be successful.

Figure out what it is that you like to do. Don’t be afraid to invest in professional help, like a career counselor. It’s worth it and so are you. Then, formulate a criteria of your perfect job. List everything you want in a job or career.

What should you be looking for in a career?

A future

Training, knowledge, experience. This is crucial, whether you’re a recent grad just starting out in the workplace, or a career changer looking to start over.

Think Long Term. Remember, money is the last thing to come. If you’re changing careers, you know you’ll have to take a salary hit in the short term. However, you can’t possibly believe that if you find a career you love, you won’t be motivated to work harder and, eventually, you’ll earn more than you ever would have in your old career.

If you’re going to make a career change, plan for it financially. This is one of the biggest reasons people stay in careers they hate. Start your career change plan a year in advance.This gives you time to lower your overhead and sock away some extra money in preparation for the upcoming income hit. Don’t worry about staying an extra year at a job you dislike. The mere action of planning this big change will energize you and make the job you hate nothing more than a vehicle towards getting you what you really want. And don’t forget, successful people love new challenges.

Your 1st and most important sale is at home. When starting out on any new venture or career, there will be an adjustment period. Things could be rough at the beginning. You’ll probably be working longer hours than you used to. If it’s a new sales job, you’ll get your brains beat in with rejection at the beginning. The last thing you need is to get your brains beat in when you get home. You need a place where there will always be positive feedback, no matter what. Unless you have total support from your spouse, I would recommend not making the change.

If you like this video series and want the link delivered right to your email first thing Monday morning go to my website at greshes.com and in the upper right hand corner sign up for a free subscription. See ya next Monday.

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Move Your Ass Monday! #32 – Don’t Help the Users

Hi this is Warren Greshes and welcome to, “Move Your Ass Monday!” I’m here to eliminate all the excuses, get your week started on a high note and make sure you reach your fullest potential.

Don’t you just hate it when people ask for your advice and help but when you give it to them they come up with a Christmas list of excuses for why they can’t do it or why it can’t be done.

What’s even worse is when you spend a lot of your own time and energy helping someone who asked for your help, let you do most of the heavy lifting, and then flaked out on you.

That is why years ago I decided to live by one very simple rule, which you might be very interested in. It’s designed to separate the serious people from the time wasters. And it is this:

I will give you all the help and advice you want and ask for as long as your commitment to yourself remains larger than my commitment to you. The second my commitment to you becomes greater than your commitment to yourself, I’m outta here.

Unfortunately, I had to have my time wasted way too often before I figured it out. Now when people come to me for help or advice, I tell them I’ll be glad to help them as long as they complete a list of tasks I give them. These tasks are related to what they want to achieve, and by completing them will get them on the way to where they want to be.

Once they’ve done those things, I ask them to come back to me and I’ll give them all the help they want. Why not; they’ve shown they’re willing to do what it takes. Of course, asking them to do those tasks eliminates 97% of the people who approach me, otherwise known as the “Time Wasters,” or “Users.”

They were never serious, but figured, “Hey, if this dope wants to do all the work for me, I’ll take him up on it.” Well not this dope. Besides, the time you waste with the “Users,” is time you could have spent with the 3% who need your help and advice, will use it and prosper because of it.

If you like this video series and want the link delivered right to your email first thing Monday morning go to my website at greshes.com and in the upper right hand corner sign up for a free subscription. See ya next Monday.

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Move Your Ass Monday! #31 – Make More Money or Spend Less: There are no Other Choices

Hi this is Warren Greshes and welcome to, “Move Your Ass Monday!” I’m here to eliminate all the excuses, get your week started on a high note and make sure you reach your fullest potential.

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of all the whining: from politicians, media dopes and from the general public.

I keep hearing “The middle class is getting squeezed.” But it seems to me as if the middle class is squeezing themselves. The same way we excoriate congress for spending more than they take in, and blowing our hard earned money on projects and programs that are nothing more than jobs programs for the marginally employable, how many of us are doing the same thing?

When I was a kid in the late 50’s and early 60’s, I lived in a 2 bedroom apartment in Brooklyn with my parents and sister. I shared a bedroom with my sister. We had one bathroom; one TV with 7 channels; no car; no air-conditioning; no dishwasher, washing machine or dryer.

We never took a vacation that involved an airplane. In fact, I don’t ever remember us taking a vacation that lasted more than a long weekend. In the summers, I went to a free day camp run by the school system or, just spent the days playing ball with my friends at the local school yard.

Yet, back then, we were considered middle class. Today, anyone living under those conditions would be considered dirt poor. We have come to a point where things that not that long ago were considered luxuries are now considered necessities.

I find it very hard to feel sorry for people who earn a good living but constantly blow their money on “Crap.” Here’s the point: stop whining and either find a way to make more money or figure out how to spend less, and that shouldn’t be too hard. For example:

Does your 10 year old really need a cell phone? Yes, I know you’re going to give me the “Security” argument. OK, even if I buy that, which I don’t, why does the kid also need text-messaging?

Do you really need to spend upwards of $25 to $30 a week on coffee? The same people who complain about $4 a gallon gasoline are paying FAR more than that on coffee!!! Heck, they’re paying far more than that on bottled water. I know people who complain they can’t save money, but could have funded a 401K very nicely on what they spend on water and coffee.

How come a $2 to $3 thousand Disney World vacation is a priority but health insurance is not? If you can’t afford to save for your retirement or kids’ college education do you really need satellite TV, with HBO to boot?

People are moaning about having to spend as much as $50 extra per week on gasoline. Here’s an idea: eat out one less time per week and that pays for the gasoline. Or, how about eat out two less times per week and pay for the gasoline and send one kid to college.

Eat breakfast at home before you go to work and make yourself lunch at home and bring it to work. That alone could save you $10 to $15 a day.

This boils down to four things:

1) Personal responsibility – take control of your life and finances, because if you don’t nobody else will and the consequences will not be pretty.

2) Sacrifice – the small sacrifices we make upfront will allow us not to have to make HUGE sacrifices in the future.

3) Priorities – When you don’t have health insurance, life insurance, retirement savings or a college fund for your kids; but you do have new cars; go on expensive vacations; eat out 4 or 5 times a week and spend as much on coffee as you do on gas, what does that say about you and your priorities in life?

4) The ability to think long term – I would much rather endure short term pain for long term gain than do the opposite. That $25 to $50 you save every week on stuff you don’t need; could live without; and wouldn’t miss at all, could be the difference between a more comfortable retirement or working till they carry you out feet first.

If you like this video series and want the link delivered right to your email first thing Monday morning go to my website at greshes.com and in the upper right hand corner sign up for a free subscription. See ya next Monday.

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Move Your Ass Monday #30 – What Are You Willing to Give Up To Get What You Really Want?

Hi this is Warren Greshes and welcome to, “Move Your Ass Monday!” I’m here to eliminate all the excuses, get your week started on a high note and make sure you reach your fullest potential.

The other night I was watching TV and saw a commercial for Immodium AD, an over the counter medication that has been used for years to treat diarrhea.

What got me was: the voice on the commercial was recommending Immodium AD for people with persistent, constant or chronic diarrhea. This stuff is not a cure; it’s a quick fix, till the next time it happens.

If this is a constant problem for you how about looking at your life style and some of the crap you eat. Most likely all it would take would be a small, long-term sacrifice; a small change in your eating habits and this problem could go away.

The only thing that I’ve ever eaten or drank in my life that gave me heartburn was coffee. So guess what I did? Right, over 20 years ago I cut it out and I stopped getting heartburn. Did I like coffee? Yeah I did; but I hated heartburn a heck of a lot more than I liked coffee.

The point is, it just seems much easier and hassle free to do the old quick-fix and pop a pill, so to speak. No sacrifice involved on your part. But the problem is, for the things we really want in life, you will have to make some kind of long term sacrifice to achieve them.

It’s hard to almost impossible to lose weight, and keep it off, without changing your eating habits along with a consistent exercise program. It’s extremely difficult to achieve financial independence without some short term sacrifices such as eating out, expensive vacations, $5 cups of coffee, fancy cars, etc., that will allow you to invest more in your long term future. And don’t even think about going into your own business unless you’re willing to lay it all on the line and sacrifice everything you have in order to achieve long-term, long-lasting success.

But, if you just want to “Pop a pill,” live for today and worry about tomorrow at some other time, that’s fine too. It’s your choice. Just don’t complain when the bill comes due and you’re running to the bathroom with pains in your stomach.

If you like this video series and want the link delivered right to your email first thing Monday morning go to my website at greshes.com and in the upper right hand corner sign up for a free subscription. See ya next Monday.